Puzzle at a Glance
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Puzzle number in The Daily Telegraph
DT 29760 | |
Publication date in The Daily Telegraph
Saturday, August 21, 2021 | |
Setter
Cephas (Peter Chamberlain) | |
Link to full review
Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29760 – Hints]Big Dave's Crossword Blog [DT 29760 – Review] | |
Big Dave's Crossword Blog review written by
Tilsit (Hints)crypticsue (Review) | |
BD rating
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| Difficulty - ★★★ | Enjoyment - ★★★ |
Falcon's experience
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘ | |
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Legend:
█ - solved without assistance
█ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools
█ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools
█ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by puzzle solving tools
█ - solved but without fully parsing the clue
█ - unsolved or incorrect prior to visiting Big Dave's Crossword Blog
█ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by solutions from Big Dave's Crossword Blog
█ - reviewed by Falcon for Big Dave's Crossword Blog
█ - yet to be solved
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Notes
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As this was a Saturday "Prize Puzzle" in Britain, there are two entries related to it on Big Dave's Crossword Blog — the first, posted on the date of publication, contains hints for selected clues while the second is a full review issued following the entry deadline for the contest. The vast majority of reader comments will generally be found attached to the "hints" posting with a minimal number — if any — accompanying the full review.
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Introduction
During the solve, I failed to recognize this puzzle as a pangram—what else is new?I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.
Notes on Today's Puzzle
This commentary is intended to serve as a supplement to the review of this puzzle found at Big Dave's Crossword Blog, to which a link is provided in the table above.
| Markup Conventions | |
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| Click here for further explanation and usage examples of markup conventions used on this blog. | |
Across
| 1a | Established procedure at // home (7) |
| 5a | One in form maybe // always allowed outside (7) |
Form[5] is a British name for a hare's lair.
A leveret[5] is a young hare in its first year.
| 9a | Junior detains our unruly // panellist (5) |
| 10a | Branch /with/ a leaf if it mutated (9) |
| 11a | Drink // cures heart that's broken (10) |
Chartreuse[5] is a pale green or yellow liqueur made from brandy and aromatic herbs.
| 12a | Membrane /with/ some transparency still (4) |
| 14a | Nonconformist // priest nearby indisposed (12) |
A Nonconformist[10] is a member of a Protestant denomination that dissents from an Established Church, especially (in Britain) the Church of England.
| 18a | News /that makes/ sense (12) |
| 21a | Question Liz not starting // grill (4) |
| 22a | Growth // polluted a coastline (10) |
| 25a | Come between // Italian footballers and model? (9) |
A Nonconformist[10] is a member of a Protestant denomination that dissents from an Established Church, especially (in Britain) the Church of England.
| 26a | Take the plunge /with/ cricketer here on vacation (5) |
A bat[5] is a person batting, especially in cricket; in other words, a batsman ⇒
the team's opening bat.
The phrase "on vacation" is an indication to remove the contents (interior letters) from the word "H(er)E". Vacation[10] is used in the sense of the act of departing from or abandoning property, etc. Thus the setter would seem to be suggesting that the interior letters pack up and leave.
| 27a | Confusion /of/ slave hiding cocktail of rum (7) |
| 28a | Fan // display that is not so hot (3-4) |
Fan is used here as a verb.
What are they arguing about?
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On Big Dave's Crossword Blog, there is an exhaustive—and, one might say, exhausting—argument as to whether there exists such a verb as air-cool. The deniers claim that such a term would never be used in practice but admit that the past participle (air-cooled) is in common use. I think grammarians would argue that it the past participle of the verb exists, then the verb itself must exist—even if rarely used. |
Not in my view
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| In his review on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Tilsit somehow manages to interpret this clue as a double definition (I don't understand his reasoning). I agree with crypticsue who designates the clue as a charade in her review. |
Down
| 1d | Appropriate whilst in transit (6) |
| 2d | Exclude fellow // drinks seller (6) |
| 3d | Have one go then another almost, let out /and/ capsize (4,6) |
| 4d | Employment // Exchange (5) |
| 5d | Way of living // provided in the French fashion (9) |
"the French " = LE [French definite article]
| 6d | Farewell /from/ man-servant short of time (4) |
Vale[5] is an archaic exclamation meaning farewell.
Origin: Latin, literally ‘be well!, be strong!’, imperative of valere
| 7d | Easy-to-make // money Michael's reported (5-3) |
Ready*[5,10] is an informal British term for ready money*[5,10], funds for immediate use or, in other words, available money or cash ⇒
Because I haven't got the readies to hand, I could offer a pittance now and promise to pay the rest at a date more to my convenience.
* Ready[5,10] (also called readies) is also known as the ready[10] (also called the readies); ready money[5,10] also goes by the name ready cash.
Mick[7] is a masculine given name, usually a short form of Michael.
| 8d | Standing a round perhaps // giving medical care (8) |
| 13d | Piece of furniture and where to find it (10) |
Like numerous readers of Big Dave's Crossword Blog, I have to say I don't think this clue quite works.
The entire clue provides the wordplay in which the definition is embedded.
Chamber[5] is an archaic term for a private room, especially a bedroom.
Bedchamber[5] is an archaic term for a bedroom.
| 15d | Jammed cylinder (5,4) |
Swiss roll[5] is a British term for a cylindrical cake with a spiral cross section, made from a flat sponge cake spread with a filling such as jam and rolled up.
| 16d | Uneasiness, // daughter is quite perturbed (8) |
| 17d | More tough // playful critters (8) |
| 19d | Restaurant // purchased by pub is troublesome (6) |
As a hidden word or containment indicator, I take purchase[1]to be used in the archaic sense of to accumulate possessions. Thus "purchased by" is interpreted to mean 'accumulated by' or 'held by'.
| 20d | Reveal // occasionally sunny view I initially loved (6) |
| 23d | Space around north /for/ scene of conflict (5) |
Arena[5] is used in the sense of a place or scene of activity, debate, or conflict ⇒
he has re-entered the political arena.
| 24d | Ship/'s/ freight about to be removed (4) |
In Greek mythology, the Argo[10] was the ship in which Jason sailed in search of the Golden Fleece.
What did he say?
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In his hints on Big Dave's Crossword Blog, Tilsits tells us that the solution to the clue is aActually, the solution is the name of a ship rather than a type of ship.type of ship. |
Key to Reference Sources:
[1] - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
[2] - Search Chambers - (Chambers 21st Century Dictionary)
[3] - TheFreeDictionary.com (American Heritage Dictionary)
[4] - TheFreeDictionarycom (Collins English Dictionary)
[5] - Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) (Oxford Dictionary of English)
[6] - Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) (Oxford Advanced American Dictionary)
[7] - Wikipedia
[8] - Reverso Online Dictionary (Collins French-English Dictionary)
[9] - Infoplease (Random House Unabridged Dictionary)
[10] - CollinsDictionary.com (Collins English Dictionary)
[11] - TheFreeDictionary.com (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)
[12] - CollinsDictionary.com (Webster’s New World College Dictionary)
[13] - MacmillanDictionary.com (Macmillan Dictionary)
[14] - CollinsDictionary.com (COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary)
[15] - CollinsDictionary.com (Penguin Random House LLC/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd )
Signing off for today — Falcon
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